His old side travel to France on Sunday, and will play at an arena where La Rochelle have been tough to beat, with O’Driscoll keen to point out the psychological advantage of playing at home, even with no fans in attendance.

“Home advantage is a huge, huge thing,” O’Driscoll - who won the European Cup with Leinster in 2009, 2011 and 2012 - told Off The Ball’s Monday Night Rugby.

“It's obviously way more beneficial when you’ve got your own crowd there and your own supporters.

“But the familiarity of all the things leading up to playing at home versus being away, it does sway performance on your side and that’s the reality of it.

“It’s human instincts that we prefer playing in places that we’re familiar with. On the basis of that, it's going to be a very, very difficult game for both teams.”

O’Driscoll reiterated the strength of Leinster’s side, but highlighted that La Rochelle have a wide range of talent and experience across multiple positions.

“[There’s] the variety and diversity to their game as well, whether it’s their mauling or great counter-attack,” he pointed out.

“[They also have] guys with lots of experience at eight, nine, ten and [Brice] Dulin at 15, and Will Skelton bashing people up front.”

O’Driscoll warned that Leinster will need to be on top form if they are to win and reach the final for the sixth time in their history, but touted the Irish province as slim favourites.

“There are so many really great components to this La Rochelle team that Leinster will definitely have to turn out one of their better performances of the season to get the better of them,” he stated.

“On the basis of experience at this level of competition, I think it's just Leinster [as] favourites, but I don’t think there's a huge amount in it.”

Three-time European champion Brian O’Driscoll believes playing at the Stade Marcel-Deflandre can massively benefit La Rochelle in their Heineken Champions Cup semi-final against Leinster Rugby this weekend.